THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPUTER MODEL OF THE CONCEPT ATTAINMENT PROCESS--A PRELIMINARY REPORT.

BAKER, FRANK B.

TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE COGNITIVE PROCESSES INVOLVED IN THE ATTAINMENT OF CONCEPTS BY HUMANS, A MODEL WAS DEVELOPED BY USE OF COMPUTER TECHNIQUES. THE MODEL WAS BASED UPON THEORETICAL GROUNDS, "THINK ALOUD" PROTOCOLS, AND SPECULATIONS ABOUT THE NATURE OF CONCEPT ATTAINMENT. IT WAS DEVELOPED WITH THREE MAJOR ASPECTS--(1) CONTEXTING FUNCTIONS (HIGHER LEVEL COGNITIVE BEHAVIOR ASSOCIATED WITH SELECTION, MAINTENANCE, AND EVALUATION OF BEHAVIORS), (2) OPERATIONS BEHAVIOR (PERFORMED DURING EXECUTION OF A CONCEPT ATTAINMENT STRATEGY, SUCH AS CREATING SEARCH CRITERION, COMPARING OBJECTS, AND PRESENTING CONCEPTS), AND (3) A MEMORY COMPONENT DESIGNED TO FACILITATE THE OTHER ASPECTS AND FORM A BASIS FOR A MODEL OF HUMAN MEMORY. A CHRONOLOGY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE THREE MAJOR ASPECTS OF THE MODEL IS GIVEN TO PROVIDE INSIGHT INTO THE NUMBER AND NATURE OF THE PROBLEMS INVOLVED IN DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPUTER MODEL OF COGNITIVE PROCESSES. THE CONCLUSIONS WERE SUMMARIZED IN THREE GENERAL AREAS--(1) MODELING CONSIDERATIONS, (2) RESEARCH IDEAS GENERATED BY THE COMPUTER MODEL, AND (3) THE STATE OF THE ART. THE COMPUTER PROGRAM WAS CONSIDERED AS A REPOSITORY OF IDEAS ABOUT THE PROCESSES INVOLVED IN CONCEPT ATTAINMENT, THE IDEAS BEING EXPRESSED IN THE FORM OF COMPUTER PROGRAMS WRITTEN IN COMPUTER LANGUAGE. THE AUTHOR CONCLUDED THAT (1) WHEN COMPARED WITH EARLIER VERSIONS THE CURRENT MODEL SEEMED SOPHISTICATED, BUT WHEN COMPARED WITH HUMAN CONCEPT ATTAINMENT THE MODEL WAS VERY RUDIMENTARY, (2) THE MAJORITY OF INFORMATION PROCESSED BY HUMANS IS INTERNALLY CREATED, (3) THE EXISTING PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES AND PUBLISHED RESEARCH DID NOT PROVIDE THE INFORMATION NEEDED FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODEL, AND (4) THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING THE MODEL LED TO IDENTIFICATION OF SOME PROBLEMS THAT NEEDED TO BE SOLVED TO MAKE FURTHER PROGRESS POSSIBLE. (AL)